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Posted: Jan 03, 2012

Funding opportunity: Centers for Material Life Cycle Safety

(Nanowerk News) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications for an interdisciplinary center focused on the application of a life cycle perspective towards the development of materials (Centers for Material Life Cycle Safety). Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-G2012-STAR-B1. Solicitation Closing Date: April 25, 2012, 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time.

Note: The term "materials" broadly refers to any and all types of chemicals, including individual chemicals, compounds, mixtures of compounds, or products. Such examples of materials include a discreet molecule, a polymer, a nanomaterial or a biochemical.

The aim of the center will be to develop methodologies and practices for materials design which applies a holistic perspective. This holistic approach to design, which considers all the stages of a material's life cycle, provides an opportunity to produce materials which minimize, and preferably eliminate, any associated potential environmental and human health impacts that may occur during the life cycle.

The Center will focus on the design and development of materials that apply sustainability principles for chemistry and engineering across all stages of the material's life cycle. This holistic approach to material design and development will direct researchers to avoid and eliminate the contributions within a life cycle that most significantly influence their potential impacts. Additionally, the guidance for a holistic life cycle design and understanding resulting from research supported under this Request for Applications (RFA) will enable continual improvements in the quality of life without detrimental impairment of public health or the ecosystem. Furthermore, the developed capability to reduce hazard will result in materials which are in direct accordance with the principles of sustainability.

Source: EPA

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